Upright-pianoforte action.



Patented July 30, I901. M. STEINERT.

n m 1 m 1 l m h e m n 1 M H m m B DI U \J. o d o I o N UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS STEINERT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

UPRlGHT-PIANOFORTE ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,48 dated J v 30,1901- Applioation filed March 5, 1901- To all whom it may ooncern:

Be it known that I, MORRIS STEINERT, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inUpright-Pianoforte Actions; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the figures ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawing constitutes part of this specificationand represents a view, partly in elevation and partly in verticalsection, of an upright-pianoforte action constructed in accordance withmy invention.

My invention relates to an improvement in upright-piano actions, theobject being to transform the pianoforte of to-day from a pureinstrument of percussion, which it may now be said to be, to aninstrument in which the strings are excited in vibration by a strokerather than by a blow, with all the difference in tone quality therebysignified.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a pianoforte-actionhaving certain details of construction and combinations of parts, aswill be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown the piano key-lever 2 isfurnished at its inner end with a threaded pilot-rod 3, receiving apilot-head 4, which is adjustable upon the rod and which engages with afeltfaced tappet 5, located upon the forward end of the jack-lever 6,the rear end of which is pivoted to a butt 7, secured to a jack-leverrail 8. A felted jack-lever rest-rail 9 is located in position tonormally support the jack-lever and take the weight imposed thereupon byother parts of the action. At its for ward end the jack-lever isfurnished with a jack-butt 10, in which is pivotally mounted the jack11, the extreme upper end of which coacts with the felt cushion 12applied over the obtuse-angled escapement-face 13, formed upon the loweredge of the forward end of the horizontally-arranged hammer-lever 14,which is pivoted to a hammer-lever butt 15, secured to the hammer-rail16. The forward movement of the upper end of the jack is limited andcontrolled by an adjusting-button 17, mounted in a rail 18, while thees- $erial No. 49,912. (No model.)

capement of the jack is positively effected by means of an adjustablebutton 19, mounted in a rail 20 and engaging with a short arm 21,extending forwardly from the lower end of the jack, which is returned toits normal and operative position by means of a spiral spring'22,interposed between the arm 21 and the upper face of the forward end ofthe jacklever 6. A hammer-lever link 23, arranged nearly vertically, ispivotally attached at its lower end to the forward 'end of thehammerlever 14 and pivotally attached at its upper end to thehammer-head 24, which is pivoted in a horizontally-arranged hammer-butt25, secured to the upper end of the hammer-rail 16. A hammer tail or arm26, mounted in the hammer-head 24, carries the hammer 27, which is ofordinary construction. A felted hammer rest-rail 28 is located in theusual.

position for afiording a rest for the hammer. A hammer-spring 29,secured to a hammerspring rail 30, engages with the hammer-butt 24 andoperates to assist in restoring the hammer to its normal position, inwhich it is also assisted by gravity. If desired, this action may befurther assisted by a weight 31, mounted in the hammer-lever 14.

To prevent the hammer itself from trembling directly after its impactwith the string, I employ an adjustable button 32, mounted in a rail 33,in position to engage with the upper face of the forward end of thehammerlever 14, as well as an adjustable button 34, mounted in the upperend of the hammer-1ever link 23 and engaging with a horn or finger 35,extending downwardly from the hammer-head 24 from a point directly belowits pivot. My improved action is also provided with a damper 36,adjustably mounted upon a damper-rod 37, located in the upper end of adamper-lever 38, pivoted in substantially a vertical position in ahammer-lever butt 39, secured to the hammer-rail 16. A spring 40,secured to the butt 39, engages with the rear edge of the upper arm ofthe lever 38 and exerts a constant effort to hold the damper 36 incontact with the string, from which thedamper is retired by the coactionwith the lower arm of the lever 38 of a wire finger 41, mounted in therear end of the jack-lever 14, which when its forward end is elevatedhas its rear end depressed, with the effect of swinging the damper-lever38, so as to withdraw the damper 36 from the string.

It Will be seen from the foregoing description, taken together with thedrawings, that my improved upright-piano action is distinguished bysimplicity of construction and accessibility for adj ustment and repair.It will be further noted that the jack does not act directly upon thehammer-head, as in the ordinary pianofortes, whereby they becomeinstruments of percussion, but that the jack acts through the medium ofa hammer-lever positively connected with the hammer-head by means of ahammer-lever link. This construction makes the action of the hammer astroke rather than a blow and refines the stroke by making it lessdirect and aggressive without any substantial loss of power. Under myimproved construction, also, the hammer is not released and allowed tofall back upon the hammer-rest rail when the key has been depressed tothe full extent, but rather is held in close proximity to the string insuch a position that by a slight vibration of the key while in itsdepressed position the hammer may be utilized to excite the string invibration by a series of strokes running from extremely slow strokes tothose of the most rapid repetition.

My improved action by reason of its peculiar construction is verypowerful and singularly easy, natural, and free. It is difficult todescribe just the quality of touch which it secures; but to describethat touch as being easy, natural, and free gives an idea of itsquality.

By uniting and combining together, as it were, the several elements ofthe train constituting the action, whereby they may be said to bearticulated after the manner of the bones of the arm, wrist, andfingers, I am enabled to control the hammer in a way not possible in theordinary instrument, in which the impact of the jack upon the hammerheadsends the hammer flying through the air to strike the string. With mycontrolled action the performer is able to bring himself into completerapport with the instrument and to secure effects of tone-colorcorresponding to his own musical instinct and feeling. I need not saythat my action enables the performer to secure crescendo, diminuendo,portamento, le-

gato, and color and tone effects beyond the reach of performers exceptthose of the highest technical skill.

It is apparent that in carrying out my invention some changes in theconstruction herein shown maybe made, and I would therefore have itunderstood that I do not limit myself thereto, but hold myself atliberty to make such changes as fairly fall within the spirit and scopeof my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an upright-pianoforte action, the combination with a key-lever, ofa jack-lever operated thereby, a jack pivotally mounted in the saidlever, a hammer-lever, a hammerhead carrying a-hammer, and a hammer-1ever link pivotally connected with the hammer-lever and pivotallyconnected with the hammenhead.

2. In an upright-pianoforte action, the combination with a key-lever, ofa jack-lever operated thereby, a jack pivotally connected with thejack-lever, a hammenlever operated by the jack, a hammer-head carrying ahammer and provided with a depending finger or horn, a hammer-lever linkpivotally connecting the hammer-lever and the hammer-head, aregulating-button mounted in the upper end of the said link and coactingwith the said horn, and a regulating-button coacting with thehammer-lever, the said buttons being constructed and arranged to preventthe vibration of the hammer after its impact with the string.

3. In a pianoforte-action, the combination with a key-lever, of ahorizontally-arranged jack-lever operated thereby, a jack pivotallyconnected with the forward end of the jacklever, a horizontally-arrangedhammer-lever with the forward end of which the jack coacts, ahammer-head carrying a hammer-rod supporting a hammer, a l1aminer-leverlink pivotally connected with the hammer-lever and hammer-head, andmeans coacting with the hammer-head and hammer-lever for controlling thevibration of the hammer after its impact with the string.

i. In an upright-piano action, the combi nation with a ham mer-key, of ahorizontallyarranged jack-lever operated thereby, a jack pivotallyconnected with the jack-lever, a horizontally-arranged ham mer-leverprovided with an obtuse-angled escapement-face with which the jackcoacts, a hammer-head carrying a hammer rod or tail supporting thehammer, a ham mer-lever link pivotally connected with the saidhammer-head and with the forward end of the hammer-lever, means forpreventing the vibration of thehammer after its MORRIS STEINERI.

Witnesses:

FREDERIO 0. Emma, LILLIAN D. KELSEY.

